Double suplex Benoit through the French announce table, but all I can focus on his how Shawn looks like he's something straight out of a horror movie (like Black Swan) with all that blood. Jesus!

This is an even more insane amount of juice than Vince at WMXIX.

Honestly, it's like Vince + Rock/Austin II + Austin @ WM13.

Oh, by the way, Benoit has been on a powder break ever since that table spot.

Benoit rises from the dead to thwart the Pedigree fall.

And now a disbelieving HHH is huffing and puffing to get more juice so as not to be outdone by HBK's blade job.

Fans rabid for Benoit, booing Shawn.

And Shawn takes a powder.

Allowing Benoit to cripple HHH with the Crossface!

Jan 16, 2021 14:59:08 GMT 🤯 said:

HHH already out of the ring.

Gonna keep track of everytime someone takes a powder to make it a singles match.

And HHH back in now...

My negro this needs to be a counter in the corner of the screen every time we have a triple threat. For some reason getting ejected from the ring is VERY exhausting in multi-man matches. There must be a limited supply of air in the ring, hence tag matches take it outta guys like nothing else despite regularly doing singles no probs.

You'd think tag specialists would be winded af in a singles tho...

And there's the tap heard round the world.

As much as I wanted/still want it to have been Brock vs. Benoit II, there's no denying this was a great match. Greatest triple threat ever? Not entirely sure. But it is pretty damn great.

And now da hugz. How coot.

Jan 16, 2021 15:23:41 GMT @ness said:

Jan 16, 2021 14:59:08 GMT 🤯 said:

HHH already out of the ring.

Gonna keep track of everytime someone takes a powder to make it a singles match.

And HHH back in now...

My negro this needs to be a counter in the corner of the screen every time we have a triple threat. For some reason getting ejected from the ring is VERY exhausting in multi-man matches. There must be a limited supply of air in the ring, hence tag matches take it outta guys like nothing else despite regularly doing singles no probs.

You'd think tag specialists would be winded af in a singles tho...

Fantastic points. Similarly, it suddenly becomes virtually impossible to overcome gravity in a Royal Rumble. But as soon as it's any other match type? Zero gravity has asshole floating over the top rope from the slightest nudges.

Let's update the list!

To come full circle in my Eddy hate, originally I hated it under the guise that he's STEALING Benoit's spotlight. Right when I was coming around on the guy.

Updating:

1. WrestleMania 17
2. WrestleMania 3
3. WrestleMania 14
4. WrestleMania 20
5. WrestleMania 19

WrestleMan X-Seve still holds its #1 spot, with WM3 & WM14 nipping at its heels and honestly being somewhat interchangeable based on mood. WMXX edges out WMXIX right now, perhaps because of recency bias, but also the Kurt/Brock main event left me feeling more deflated than the WHC triple threat.

Trying to think down the card... Liked that WMXIX didn't feel as long overall, but it did feel like the rough draft to a brand split WrestleMania, and then WMXX advanced the draft to something closer to its final form.

19 had the better opener and use of Rey and the CW title, but 20 got more CWs on the card and opened with a title change to hot face Cena after an impressive feat of strength. 19 had the better women's match, but 20 featured Molly. 19 had the better Undertaker match purely talking bell to bell, but 20 had a much better use of Taker. 19's three-way tag was better than either of 20's four-ways. 20's evening gown match was faaar better than the Miller Lite cat fight shit.

So then it's HBK/Y2J, Austin/Rock III, Hogan/Vince, HHH/Booker, and Brock/Kurt vs. Y2J/Christian, Evolution/Rock N Sock, Brock/Goldberg, Kurt/Eddie, and HHH/HBK/Benoit as the main event attractions.

Despite the better post-match, I'll take Y2J/HBK over Y2J/Christian. I feel confident about making that pick ten times out of ten. I feel similarly confident about picking Brock/Goldberg ten times outta ten over Brock/Kurt. But turn I'd take Kurt/Eddie probably ten times outta ten over Brock/Kurt, so that kinda neutralizes WM19's edge.

The Evolution Handicap was such great fun, but also felt like such an odd use of Rock at his potentially last-ever WrestleMania. Nevertheless, it really over-delivered against expectations. But then so did Hogan/Vince, which arguably over-delivered even more. And Rock/Austin III felt like an appropriately big use of Rock, included Austin, and could've even rightfully been WM19's main event. So in a handicap match, WM19 gets an edge over WMXX.

As much of a HHH/Booker apologist as I am, I can't argue it's better than the triple threat. And honestly, I think it's the triple threat that nudges WMXX just ahead of WMXIX in a sum of the whole is greater than the parts kind of way... Only inverted.

6. WrestleMania 13
7. WrestleMania 8
8. WrestleMania 7
9. WrestleMania 18
10. WrestleMania 6

11. WrestleMania 5
12. WrestleMania 10
13. WrestleMania 1
14. WrestleMania 4
15. WrestleMania 12

16. WrestleMania 15
17. WrestleMania 16
18. WrestleMania 2
19. WrestleMania 9
20. WrestleMania 11

Crazy to know we're almost at WMXXXX.

Bet we still won't have live crowds LMAO.

I can't remember Hogan vs. Savage for the life of me.

Jan 22, 2021 21:59:16 GMT 🤯 said:

I can't remember Hogan vs. Savage for the life of me.

If ever there was a heel in the right promo.

Jan 22, 2021 22:07:09 GMT @ness said:

Jan 22, 2021 21:59:16 GMT 🤯 said:

I can't remember Hogan vs. Savage for the life of me.

If ever there was a heel in the right promo.

Sorry, I meant the match. Been struggling with the moral dilemma of whether or not I should backtrack to rewatch.

Jan 22, 2021 22:11:24 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 22, 2021 22:07:09 GMT @ness said:

If ever there was a heel in the right promo.

Sorry, I meant the match. Been struggling with the moral dilemma of whether or not I should backtrack to rewatch.

Start over when @daughter is born. Move forward or put a pause on watching.

Jan 22, 2021 22:13:42 GMT @ness said:

Jan 22, 2021 22:11:24 GMT 🤯 said:

Sorry, I meant the match. Been struggling with the moral dilemma of whether or not I should backtrack to rewatch.

Start over when @daughter is born. Move forward or put a pause on watching.

If next kid is a boy, I might just say fuck it and still roll with @daughter.

Okay, rewatched Hogan/Savage and was about what I thought I recalled. Middle of the pack for Hogan matches at WrestleMania, I think.

Jan 23, 2021 14:45:50 GMT 🤯 said:

Okay, rewatched Hogan/Savage and was about what I thought I recalled. Middle of the pack for Hogan matches at WrestleMania, I think.

If Randy had truly left Hogan in the middle of the ring in nothing but blood and guts I think it would rank far higher!

Jan 23, 2021 14:48:27 GMT @ness said:

Jan 23, 2021 14:45:50 GMT 🤯 said:

Okay, rewatched Hogan/Savage and was about what I thought I recalled. Middle of the pack for Hogan matches at WrestleMania, I think.

If Randy had truly left Hogan in the middle of the ring in nothing but blood and guts I think it would rank far higher!

Don't get me wrong, 90% of Hogan WrestleMania matches rank over everything else. So even the Savage match is still in the overall upper echelon.

I mean honestly it's slim pickings in the pre-NWO days between this and the Warrior match anyway.

Savage has a much better track record to choose from: Steamboat, this, Warrior and Flair. And even the weird match with Crush has some value.

Jan 23, 2021 15:01:12 GMT @ness said:

I mean honestly it's slim pickings in the pre-NWO days between this and the Warrior match anyway.

Savage has a much better track record to choose from: Steamboat, this, Warrior and Flair. And even the weird match with Crush has some value.

Don't sleep on Slaughter, André at III, André at IV, Bundy in the cage, or the OG tag with T. Really, Hulk's weakest WrestleMania outing is WrestleMania IX. Sid only suffers because of the botched finish. The rest are all good to great shit, pal.

Jan 23, 2021 15:44:45 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 23, 2021 15:01:12 GMT @ness said:

I mean honestly it's slim pickings in the pre-NWO days between this and the Warrior match anyway.

Savage has a much better track record to choose from: Steamboat, this, Warrior and Flair. And even the weird match with Crush has some value.

Don't sleep on Slaughter, André at III, André at IV, Bundy in the cage, or the OG tag with T. Really, Hulk's weakest WrestleMania outing is WrestleMania IX. Sid only suffers because of the botched finish. The rest are all good to great shit, pal.

The slaughter spin where they blamed poor ticket sales on terrorist threats is one of the all-time great wrestling narratives.

Jan 23, 2021 14:45:50 GMT 🤯 said:

Okay, rewatched Hogan/Savage and was about what I thought I recalled. Middle of the pack for Hogan matches at WrestleMania, I think.

My recollection is that they worked the match to where Savage going over Hogan felt entirely believable and they basically saw it through to fruition with Savage hitting the elbow drop. Then right at the death, Hogan no-sells it, quickly hits the leg-drop, 1-2-3 and he starts hot dogging.

I also remember the finish was the only good part of Hogan-Sid. Well, Warrior appearing out of the blue, Papa Shango was clearly a sign of the times and that Pro Wrestling had gradually been getting worse since Wrestlemania III.

The wiki page for WM12 showcases Shawn/Bret in a resthold. I feel this is the perfect representation for the match.

Jan 24, 2021 0:34:34 GMT @ness said:

The wiki page for WM12 showcases Shawn/Bret in a resthold. I feel this is the perfect representation for the match.

As a long-time OG Iron Man hater, I've gotta say after the rewatch that this is as unfair and unwarranted as X-Pac heat. The match had rest holds, sure. But it had decent action and told a great overall story.

Jan 24, 2021 0:48:26 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 24, 2021 0:34:34 GMT @ness said:

The wiki page for WM12 showcases Shawn/Bret in a resthold. I feel this is the perfect representation for the match.

As a long-time OG Iron Man hater, I've gotta say after the rewatch that this is as unfair and unwarranted as X-Pac heat. The match had rest holds, sure. But it had decent action and told a great overall story.

I've only seen it once and my feeling was "better than I thought it would be" but that was a long time ago. I'm thinking of giving it another shot, even if I have to watch it in a few sittings. Same with HHH/Rock. In fact don't think I've ever seen the "without commercials" version of Brock/Angle I heard about. Wasn't that a selling point on a DVD release. The "unseen action"? Anyone confirm?

Jan 24, 2021 0:51:44 GMT @ness said:

Jan 24, 2021 0:48:26 GMT 🤯 said:

As a long-time OG Iron Man hater, I've gotta say after the rewatch that this is as unfair and unwarranted as X-Pac heat. The match had rest holds, sure. But it had decent action and told a great overall story.

I've only seen it once and my feeling was "better than I thought it would be" but that was a long time ago. I'm thinking of giving it another shot, even if I have to watch it in a few sittings. Same with HHH/Rock. In fact don't think I've ever seen the "without commercials" version of Brock/Angle I heard about. Wasn't that a selling point on a DVD release. The "unseen action"? Anyone confirm?

Network plays the commercial interruption version. I don't think it hurt the match at all. In fact, all Iron Mans could probably benefit from having to work around going into and coming back out of commercial breaks.

Resuming this on Peacock at long last...

WrestleMania 21,babay!!~

Uncharted territory!!~

These movie spoof ads were the GOAT.

Bummed Rey isn't dressed in homage to a super hero here.

He gets what he deserves struggling to get out of his leather racecar driver jumpsuit.

Well, I got stopped before I really got started because of whatever bug is wreaking havoc on Wife. But, before I circle back and restart, I'm curious to share a hypothesis and see how it proves out...

Never having seen WrestleMania 21 before, I suspect it'll be the Brand Split Era's WM13 in that start to finish it's actually a much better show than it's remembered for, and —because the WWE Championship title match on paper isn't what folks might've wanted coming out of the previous year's WrestleMania— it tends to get underrated and overlooked.

Also, I'm guessing Eddie/Rey fails to be as compelling of an opener as Rey's GOAT with Kurt at SummerSlam 2002 or the GOAT runner-up Bret/Owen from WMX.